


Teach Me and I'll Remember

by tomatopudding



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Introspection, M Thénardier's A+ parenting, Through the Years, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-27
Updated: 2020-02-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22928602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomatopudding/pseuds/tomatopudding
Summary: Who is Eponine? The answer to that question changes over the years.
Kudos: 2





	Teach Me and I'll Remember

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Remember who we are." Machineheart - Shelter.

It was a mantra that had haunted Eponine throughout her entire life, although the meaning had changed like a chameleon to suit their situation, the same way the Thenardiers themselves did. It was something that she had always begrudgingly admired in her otherwise reprehensible father.

_ Remember who we are _

Living above the inn, making the skinny girl her age do the chores, she is better and smarter and prettier.

_ Remember who we are _

She always wanted to go to Paris and they were finally going, closing up the inn (she still does not know what  _ bankruptcy _ means, that they have lost everything and that they are nothing) and setting on their way. They see the beggars on the street, but she is not allowed to give them anything, that they are beneath her notice. Little does she know that she will be in their place in a short amount of time.

_ Remember who we are _

They are not beggars, her father assures, they only need to get back on their feet. She must never forget that this is only a blip, a stumbling block that they have to get over and then everything will be better again. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

_ Remember who we are _

When the posh student who lived on less than he deserved won’t look at her twice. She doesn’t deserve his attention, not a little nothing like her. She isn’t worth the clothes on her back. That is what she is often told and she cannot help but believe it. She doesn’t know any different.

_ Remember who we are _

  
It doesn’t mean anything to her any more, the  _ we _ is nothing, there is only  _ her _ and her own actions. The actions that she has taken, leading Marius to his lady, keeping them both safe. Even now she’s keeping them safe, keeping  _ him _ safe. The bullet in her stomach is proof of that. And in those moments she does remember who she is. She is a girl, just a girl who was a victim of her circumstance, a girl who was not always kind and not always fair but who learned to think for herself even if it was a little too late. She is Eponine Thenardier and she is the first to die on the barricade, a better person than she used to be, thinking that her sacrifice will be worth something.


End file.
